Some library books in the Philippines are literally under lock and key because librarians employed by the government, including those in public universities, are held personally responsible for lost or damaged books. While the law probably needs to be changed, and some librarians need to relax a little, users also need to realize that library books aren't supposed to be stolen or mutilated. One blogger thinks it's "Criminal!!!":

...some students from my alma mater University of the Philippines Diliman would toss books out of the window only to retrieve them from the bushes and flee with them... Some of them would bring blades in the library concealed in their wallets. These animals would then slash the pages, if not the entire books away from their spines... [Another guy] would bring a coleman with him inside the library. He would then proceed to slash the desired books, roll them in and stuff it in a coleman (a thermos jug).